


Edge Of The Forest

by shadowsandspirits



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Edge of the Forest, Friendship, Gen, Harry Potter Next Generation, Not Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:20:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23971471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowsandspirits/pseuds/shadowsandspirits
Summary: Hogwarts is full of magical places, but a particular favourite for the students of Hogwarts is the edge of the forest, where friendships grow, romances blossom and secrets are uncovered.A collection of ficlets set at the edge of the forest following all different characters and their journeys through Hogwarts.
Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy & Lily Luna Potter, Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter
Comments: 15
Kudos: 17





	1. Blossom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily Luna Potter likes being in places she's not allowed, and in this particular place a friendship blossoms with a one Scorpius Malfoy.

Lily Luna Potter was a curious child, she loved to wander about the places she knows she’s not allowed to be because if she doesn’t get caught, was she ever really there? This never changed even as she grew and went off to Hogwarts with her older brothers. Lily always found a way to the secretive parts of the castle she knew would wind her up in trouble if she was ever found there, but that never stopped her. If anything, the thrill was what kept her going.

This time, however, she found herself wandering _outside_ the castle and towards a place that was out of bounds to all students. She wasn’t planning on going _into_ the Forbidden Forest, she just wanted to satisfy her curiosity enough by getting a peek into the weird and wonderful - the creatures that lurked, the flowers that grew, the water that flowed. 

So, that very sunny Friday afternoon, Lily set off down the path all alone, telling her friends she’ll catch them at dinner after she got a start on her herbology homework - a small white lie never harmed anyone. She hopped down the stoned path, the sounds of birds chirping around her, the sun beaming brightly. It was a strangely sunny day for March, most students had abandoned their school robes and some had even left their jumpers and cardigans behind - Lily’s own cardigan was shoved into her backpack along with the plant she was supposed to be looking after.

She made sure to try and avoid Hagrid’s Hut - she loved having tea with him, but right now couldn’t stomach the idea of his overcooked rock cakes… or stomach the idea of _tea_. Sneaking past Hagrids, Lily ran the rest of the way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, coming to a quick stop when another student was sat leaning up a tree, sitting on his robes and a large book in his hand. Lily recognised him almost instantly - his blond hair was a dead giveaway - as Scorpius Malfoy, her older brothers best friend.

They hadn’t spoken much since Lily had started Hogwarts, the odd hello here and there whenever Lily cornered Albus long enough to catch him in a decent conversation. Albus seemed to speak to her more than he did James, but she still felt like her older brother was slipping through her fingers. She’d also seen Scorpius in the library on occasion and they sometimes communicated across the room, but other than that, their communication had been limited.

Lily, however, would rather quite like to get to know the boy who Albus spoke so highly of.

“Scorpius?” she asked, making the other boy jump slightly, panicking for a brief moment before he realised who had interrupted his quiet moment. 

“Lily, hi,” he replied as he closed his book, keeping a finger between the pages so he wouldn’t lose his place. “What’re you doing here?”

“Just… wandering,” she replied innocently, swaying on her heels and smiling widely at him. She could have sworn she saw him roll his eyes fondly.

“You’re not allowed down here,” he reminded, putting a bookmark inside his book instead and sitting up, crossing his legs.

Lily looked around before taking a couple of steps closer and whispering, “I like being in places I’m not allowed to be. You’re not allowed down here, either,” she reminded, raising her eyebrows at him.

Scorpius smiled. “You know you look just like Albus when you do that?” he said as he rifled through his bag and produced a note. “I actually am allowed down here with permission from Professor Hagrid,” he said almost smugly, handing the note to Lily even though he didn’t have anything to prove to her. Lily was two years younger, she certainly had no authority over him.

To humour him, she took the note anyway and read it as though Headmistress McGonagall would, reading through her glasses down her nose. Scorpius let out a giggle that made Lily feel rather accomplished. She handed him back the note and shuffled slightly on her feet before asking, “could you use some company?”

“That would be nice,” he smiled and patted the ground next to him. Lily closed the gap between them, throwing her backpack on the floor and fishing out her cardigan - the plant she was looking after falling out with it - and spreading it on the floor next to Scorpius. “What’s this?” Scorpius asked, picking up the plant that Lily had carelessly abandoned.

“That’s Patrick,” Lily waved off, reaching over to pick up the book Scorpius was reading.

“Patrick… the plant?” he asked as he tried to hide his smirk. “Why was he stuffed in your bag? That is no way to treat a plant,” he half-scolded and Lily shot him a look.

“I’m useless at herbology and Professor Longbottom gave me Patrick as a little extra project, I have to monitor his growth,” she said, imitating Neville in a funny voice. “But enough about me, why do you have _permission_ to be here?”

“Research,” he said proudly, putting Patrick the Plant down carefully and turning the book - that Lily was still holding - to the page where he left off. _Thestrals_ , it read. Lily felt her shoulders sag, her heart aching for the boy who just lost his mother. She could never imagine losing her mum, that pain would never leave her. She almost didn’t want to ask, but her curiosity got the better of her.

“Can you see them now?” 

Scorpius slightly nodded, closing the book and picking Patrick back up. “Do you want any help? With this project?”

A smile covered her face uncontrollably. “Do you mean that?”

“Of course, I know a thing or two, like how not to keep them in your backpack.”

Lily got out her notebook that she was going to use to monitor the progress of Patrick and a quill, writing down Scorpius’ first tip. She smiled cheekily at him as he read over her shoulder what she had written down. 

“Anything else?”

“Wormwood is a very valuable plant, it needs to be watered three times a day in order for it to grow properly for it to be used in potions,” he explained, talking slowly so Lily could jot it all down. She was pretty sure Professor Longbottom had already covered this with her, but she barely remembered that. “Plants are like babies -”

“Woah,” Lily interrupted, “I don’t think I’m ready to be a mum yet.”

Scorpius nudged her shoulder as Lily broke her act with a laugh. “Good job you have me, I will happily be your plants mum.”

“We can be plant mums together!” Lily exclaimed, practically jumping for joy. 

Scorpius looked slightly taken aback, even though it was his suggestion. “You’d want that?”

“Well, you’re helping me anyway, right? Might as well help with the practical side too?”

He smiled softly, the glow of the sun highlighting his soft grey eyes. Lily wondered for a moment how anyone could find an ounce of darkness in someone so sweet and kind, who selflessly offered his time to help her in a subject that she was - quite frankly - useless in. 

They spent another hour or so down by the edge of the forest, discussing all things herbology and how Lily would look after the plant when Scorpius wasn’t around. As they laughed together, the beginnings of a friendship blossomed beautifully, like the trees in the beginning of spring.


	2. Little Bird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Down at the edge of the forest, a little bird is suffering and when a creature is in need of help, Albus Severus Potter does everything in his power to help them.

Growing up Albus had always loved creatures, no matter how big or small, how slimy or furry, how scary or cute, how loud or quiet. He loved them all. He collected the bugs that would eat at his fathers’ tomatoes and gave them a home and food. He handled the gnomes in the garden with much more care than his siblings. He marvelled at the Pygmy Puffs in the shop window and begged and begged and begged his parents for a kitten, or an owl, or a puppy, or a frog, or anything he could look after, but the answer was always no. He even sat outside the house and refused to come inside unless they let him look after the stray cat he found until they could take it to the vet the next morning.

The love he had for all living creatures only blossomed when he went to Hogwarts and was able to learn and watch magical creatures in their natural habitat. He would often sit at the edge of the forest with a notebook, leaning up against the tree and watching as many creatures as he could, or he’d be at the lake, or helping Hagrid with the animals he used for class. He loved to study them, learn all about them and find ways to gain their trust.

But more than anything, he liked to help them.

He liked to get them food when they couldn’t themselves, bandage up their hurt legs and nurse them back to health, take them back to their mums if they’d lost them (that had only happened one time with a little duckling at the park). Albus’ mum always said he was the most caring boy she’d ever met and it filled his heart with warmth. There was something about knowing you were helping a living creature that made it so rewarding.

That day was a day like any other, except this time Albus had somewhere to be. After class, he told Scorpius the same thing he told him every other day that week: that he’d meet him at lunch. Albus, however, would probably miss it accidentally again. He didn’t mean to leave Scorpius alone, but there was another helpless creature that needed him.

He took off in a jog down to the edge of the forest, the same place he’d been coming all week. He was careful to avoid Hagrid’s hut on the way down, running past it and straight into the forest. It was an easy place to get lost, but as long as he kept to the edges, he should be okay. He counted the trees, fifteen to the left from Hagrid’s hut: one, two, three, four…

.... Fifteen.

There, at the trunk of the fifteenth tree was a small birds nest, built like a hut to keep the bird safe and away from the other more cruel creatures lurking in the forest. Albus sat down - pulling his bag off his shoulder at the same time - in front of the hut he had created for this bird. He opened his bag to pull out a small syringe and a bottle he’d filled with fruit juice (pure apple juice he’d somehow managed to get from the house elves in the kitchen). He filled the syringe with juice and opened the top of the hut.

“Hello, little bird,” Albus whispered as he opened the hut, revealing a small black bird with a damaged wing. Albus had found the bird earlier in the week and created this little safe space for it. He had then researched all he could about treating a bird with a broken wing. The next day, he had come back - a small relief when finding the bird still there - with some make-shift equipment to immobolise the wing until it heals itself, then started sneaking food for it from breakfast.

Albus carefully picked up the little bird, cradling her in his arms as he briefly examined the damage to the wing. He was no expert, but was hoping it would be healed fairly soon and she could go back to wherever she came from. When Albus showed the bird the syringe, she happily curled up in Albus’ hand, like she had been waiting for him to arrive with her food and drink.

“Today has been an absolute nightmare,” Albus began speaking as he slowly gave the bird the juice. “And it’s only half over. I bet you understand that, huh?”

“Albus?”

The voice startled him, spilling a little bit of the juice over the bird, who began kicking her legs in distress.

“No, no, I’m sorry,” Albus whispered. “Shh, shh,” he soothed, beginning to rock the bird back and forth until she calmed down. By the time she did, the voice who had called his name had approached. 

Scorpius.

Albus half expected him to be angry. He had ditched him at lunch three days in a row now to look after a sick bird. But, when Scorpius sat down next to him, he didn’t look angry at all. In fact, he had that wide-eyed puppy dog look on his face that only  _ he _ seemed to be able to achieve (he even gave Lily Luna a run for her money).

“Who’s this? And what’s going on?” he asked kindly.

Albus carried on feeding the bird the juice in the syringe now she had calmed down. “I found her on Tuesday, right after me, Lily and James had tea with Hagrid, remember?” Scorpius nodded. “She was trying to get away from these other creatures and I shooed them away and after saw she had a broken wing. I built her this make-shift little hut and tried to help her however I could and now I keep coming back to check on her.”

The whole time he’d been talking, a smile was growing on Scorpius’ face like the grass that grew in the summer. Scorpius leaned closer to look at the bird, barely a breath away from Albus’ face.

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” he asked, again with no malice in his voice.

Albus shrugged. “I thought you’d find it weird.”

Scorpius let out a little laugh as he pulled away. “You thought I, Scorpius Malfoy, would find  _ you _ weird?” Albus couldn’t help but snort a little. “I think it’s incredibly sweet,” he then said earnestly. “Will she be okay?”

“I’m not sure, I’m hoping so. She’s eating and drinking normally, I’m hoping her wing will heal nicely,” Albus said as the bird finished off the last of the juice. “Can you hold her for a second?”

“Oh,” Scorpius said, but slowly nodded. Albus passed the bird over, letting her rest in Scorpius’ palm as he cradled her close to his chest. Albus then changed the old newspaper in the hut to make it fresh and left some food for her that should last her until the next afternoon when he could come check on her again. 

Albus took the bird back from Scorpius and placed her gently in the hut, watching her for a moment as she pecked away at the food.

It was Scorpius’ voice, again, that brought him back to reality.

“You always seem to amaze me, you know?” he spoke and Albus turned to look at him. He still had that doe-eyed look and his mouth was still etched into a wondrous smile. “You’re just so kind, the way you see animals in need and have to help them, it’s a wonderful thing; a  _ beautiful _ thing. You have a beautiful heart that matches your beautiful soul, I just wanted to remind you of that.”

A warmth blossomed inside Albus’ chest, the words dancing around his head like a child on Christmas morning. His smile mirrored Scorpius’, a boy who was kinder than anyone he’s ever met, yet was telling Albus his heart was beautiful. 

Stuck for words, Albus allowed his face to tell Scorpius exactly how grateful he was for his kind words, and how he was lucky to have found a friend like him. Scorpius seemed to understand perfectly. He then stood and held his hand out, allowing Albus to take it and pull him up. They headed back to the castle and Scorpius asked more and more questions about the bird, and Albus was happy that, not only had he found someone to listen to his love for creatures, but that also that person just happened to be the person he knew he would love forever.


End file.
